Show me the money, not the integration

The East African community is often aptly referred to as a dream. Something you visualise clearly but when you wake up reality hits you in the face as all you can recognise is yourself and the property in your bedroom. If it was a night mare, you are left with the task of convincing others that indeed ‘someone’ wanted to kill you a while ago. By now you have heard so much about the utopia that the East African Community could be once full integration is achieved. You have heard our leaders waxing lyrics about the dream of a united country where people of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi are free to move, settle and work anywhere in the region. Several summits have been held where the phrase ‘fast-tracking’ the integration process is thrown up and about until the sitting allowances have been signed for. Each summit ends with journalists either landing wonderful quotes from our leaders on the bright future of the community or the now customary accusation aimed at Tanzanians for being ‘spoilers’ of the whole process. However I do not think the important issue here is how the delegates of a certain country respond to the different protocols put before them with the expectation of a signature atop the dotted line. I am beginning to think that at the end of the day it all comes down to that famous line by actor Cuba Gooding Junior, “Show me the money.” Each individual East African country seems immersed in projects and strategies that can bring in the quick buck rather than investing time in the ambitious and fairy tale themed EAC project. A few years back, Tanzania’s assumed reluctance to support EAC initiatives was being attributed to the fact that its inclinations were more towards the Southern African Development Community (SADC). For some reason this line of argument has gradually disappeared from common discourse and Tanzania is simply accused of being anti-EAC. But do not be fooled by this, the Tanzanians are slowly coming to terms with the fact that their lands are blessed with lots of precious minerals and I am not only talking about Tanzanite but also gold and diamonds all in appeasing quantities. So when it is time to discuss ‘trivial’ EAC matters such as harmonising of university education, the Tanzanians are likely to be more concerned with who will buy their precious stones and at what price. Uganda found oil and there is nothing that works up the political elite more than the black gold whose production is being sold as a panacea for all Uganda’s problems. The other day Pres. Museveni even said it will lead to uranium enrichment and then development of nuclear energy. The oil in Uganda has already managed to slow the EAC project even before it starts flowing. One day plans were drawn for the construction of an oil pipeline from Eldoret in Western Kenya all the way to Kampala then Kigali and lastly Bujumbura. But before the project could commence, Uganda asked to have the design of the pipeline changed to have the capacity to not only bring oil to Uganda but also to be able to take crude oil from Uganda to the refineries in Mombasa. To this day, no pipeline is in site and most of East Africa is still reliant on road transport to see oil from Mombasa or Dar es Salaam ports. And while we were still stuck with blaming Tanzania for looking towards SADC instead of the EAC we forgot to notice the growing northern outlook of Kenya. Lately the country with the largest economy in the region is looking more towards South Sudan and Ethiopia. Ethiopia is already a huge economy while South Sudan offers lots of potential for investors. Kenyans are done with moving their multinational firms like Equity and KCB among others to South Sudan. The new step is for infrastructure that will help open up the world’s newest nation. And for that, plans are underway to build a railway linking South Sudan to the port of Lamu which seems to be exclusively targeting South Sudan’s oil. Meanwhile Rwanda appears to be more concerned with providing an enabling environment that can attract investors of all kinds to invest in the economy and get the dollars flowing towards the central bank. The methane gas in Lake Kivu could however see Rwanda turning into an energy giant in the region. So the eyes more focused on where the money is and not really at Arusha. Blog: www.ssenyonga.wordpress.com